diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/helper/DataGenOperatorDescriptor.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/helper/DataGenOperatorDescriptor.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f342d23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/helper/DataGenOperatorDescriptor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ * 
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.examples.btree.helper;
+
+import java.io.DataOutput;
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Random;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.context.IHyracksTaskContext;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.IOperatorNodePushable;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IRecordDescriptorProvider;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.RecordDescriptor;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.job.IOperatorDescriptorRegistry;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.comm.io.ArrayTupleBuilder;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.comm.io.FrameTupleAppender;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.comm.util.FrameUtils;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling.IntegerSerializerDeserializer;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling.UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.std.base.AbstractSingleActivityOperatorDescriptor;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.std.base.AbstractUnaryOutputSourceOperatorNodePushable;
+
+public class DataGenOperatorDescriptor extends AbstractSingleActivityOperatorDescriptor {
+
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+    private final int numRecords;
+
+    private final int intMinVal;
+    private final int intMaxVal;
+    private final int maxStrLen;
+    private final int uniqueField;
+    private final long randomSeed;
+
+    public DataGenOperatorDescriptor(IOperatorDescriptorRegistry spec, RecordDescriptor outputRecord, int numRecords,
+            int uniqueField, int intMinVal, int intMaxVal, int maxStrLen, long randomSeed) {
+        super(spec, 0, 1);
+        this.numRecords = numRecords;
+        this.uniqueField = uniqueField;
+        this.intMinVal = intMinVal;
+        this.intMaxVal = intMaxVal;
+        this.maxStrLen = maxStrLen;
+        this.randomSeed = randomSeed;
+        recordDescriptors[0] = outputRecord;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public IOperatorNodePushable createPushRuntime(IHyracksTaskContext ctx,
+            IRecordDescriptorProvider recordDescProvider, int partition, int nPartitions) {
+
+        final ByteBuffer outputFrame = ctx.allocateFrame();
+        final FrameTupleAppender appender = new FrameTupleAppender(ctx.getFrameSize());
+        final RecordDescriptor recDesc = recordDescriptors[0];
+        final ArrayTupleBuilder tb = new ArrayTupleBuilder(recDesc.getFields().length);
+        final Random rnd = new Random(randomSeed);
+        final int maxUniqueAttempts = 20;
+
+        return new AbstractUnaryOutputSourceOperatorNodePushable() {
+
+            // for quick & dirty exclusion of duplicates
+            // WARNING: could contain numRecord entries and use a lot of memory
+            HashSet<String> stringHs = new HashSet<String>();
+            HashSet<Integer> intHs = new HashSet<Integer>();
+
+            @Override
+            public void initialize() throws HyracksDataException {
+                writer.open();
+                try {
+                    appender.reset(outputFrame, true);
+                    for (int i = 0; i < numRecords; i++) {
+                        tb.reset();
+                        for (int j = 0; j < recDesc.getFieldCount(); j++) {
+                            genField(tb, j);
+                        }
+
+                        if (!appender.append(tb.getFieldEndOffsets(), tb.getByteArray(), 0, tb.getSize())) {
+                            FrameUtils.flushFrame(outputFrame, writer);
+                            appender.reset(outputFrame, true);
+                            if (!appender.append(tb.getFieldEndOffsets(), tb.getByteArray(), 0, tb.getSize())) {
+                                throw new IllegalStateException();
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                    FrameUtils.flushFrame(outputFrame, writer);
+                } catch (Exception e) {
+                    writer.fail();
+                    throw new HyracksDataException(e);
+                } finally {
+                    writer.close();
+                }
+            }
+
+            private void genField(ArrayTupleBuilder tb, int fieldIndex) throws HyracksDataException {
+                DataOutput dos = tb.getDataOutput();
+                if (recDesc.getFields()[fieldIndex] instanceof IntegerSerializerDeserializer) {
+                    int val = -1;
+                    if (fieldIndex == uniqueField) {
+                        int attempt = 0;
+                        while (attempt < maxUniqueAttempts) {
+                            int tmp = Math.abs(rnd.nextInt()) % (intMaxVal - intMinVal) + intMinVal;
+                            if (intHs.contains(tmp))
+                                attempt++;
+                            else {
+                                val = tmp;
+                                intHs.add(val);
+                                break;
+                            }
+                        }
+                        if (attempt == maxUniqueAttempts)
+                            throw new HyracksDataException("MaxUnique attempts reached in datagen");
+                    } else {
+                        val = Math.abs(rnd.nextInt()) % (intMaxVal - intMinVal) + intMinVal;
+                    }
+                    recDesc.getFields()[fieldIndex].serialize(val, dos);
+                    tb.addFieldEndOffset();
+                } else if (recDesc.getFields()[fieldIndex] instanceof UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer) {
+                    String val = null;
+                    if (fieldIndex == uniqueField) {
+                        int attempt = 0;
+                        while (attempt < maxUniqueAttempts) {
+                            String tmp = randomString(maxStrLen, rnd);
+                            if (stringHs.contains(tmp))
+                                attempt++;
+                            else {
+                                val = tmp;
+                                stringHs.add(val);
+                                break;
+                            }
+                        }
+                        if (attempt == maxUniqueAttempts)
+                            throw new HyracksDataException("MaxUnique attempts reached in datagen");
+                    } else {
+                        val = randomString(maxStrLen, rnd);
+                    }
+                    recDesc.getFields()[fieldIndex].serialize(val, dos);
+                    tb.addFieldEndOffset();
+                } else {
+                    throw new HyracksDataException(
+                            "Type unsupported in data generator. Only integers and strings allowed");
+                }
+            }
+
+            private String randomString(int length, Random random) {
+                String s = Long.toHexString(Double.doubleToLongBits(random.nextDouble()));
+                StringBuilder strBuilder = new StringBuilder();
+                for (int i = 0; i < s.length() && i < length; i++) {
+                    strBuilder.append(s.charAt(Math.abs(random.nextInt()) % s.length()));
+                }
+                return strBuilder.toString();
+            }
+        };
+    }
+}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/helper/IndexRegistryProvider.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/helper/IndexRegistryProvider.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d1f40d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/helper/IndexRegistryProvider.java
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ * 
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.examples.btree.helper;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.context.IHyracksTaskContext;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.dataflow.IIndex;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.dataflow.IIndexRegistryProvider;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.dataflow.IndexRegistry;
+
+public class IndexRegistryProvider implements IIndexRegistryProvider<IIndex> {
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+    public static final IndexRegistryProvider INSTANCE = new IndexRegistryProvider();
+
+    private IndexRegistryProvider() {
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public IndexRegistry<IIndex> getRegistry(IHyracksTaskContext ctx) {
+        return RuntimeContext.get(ctx).getIndexRegistry();
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/helper/NCBootstrap.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/helper/NCBootstrap.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ea55e7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/helper/NCBootstrap.java
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ * 
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.examples.btree.helper;
+
+import java.util.logging.Logger;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.application.INCApplicationContext;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.application.INCBootstrap;
+
+public class NCBootstrap implements INCBootstrap {
+    private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(NCBootstrap.class.getName());
+
+    private INCApplicationContext appCtx;
+
+    @Override
+    public void start() throws Exception {
+        LOGGER.info("Starting NC Bootstrap");
+        RuntimeContext rCtx = new RuntimeContext(appCtx);
+        appCtx.setApplicationObject(rCtx);
+        LOGGER.info("Initialized RuntimeContext: " + rCtx);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void stop() throws Exception {
+        LOGGER.info("Stopping Asterix NC Bootstrap");
+        RuntimeContext rCtx = (RuntimeContext) appCtx.getApplicationObject();
+        rCtx.close();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void setApplicationContext(INCApplicationContext appCtx) {
+        this.appCtx = appCtx;
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/helper/RuntimeContext.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/helper/RuntimeContext.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3336d6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/helper/RuntimeContext.java
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ * 
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.examples.btree.helper;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.application.INCApplicationContext;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.context.IHyracksTaskContext;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.dataflow.IIndex;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.dataflow.IndexRegistry;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.BufferCache;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.ClockPageReplacementStrategy;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.HeapBufferAllocator;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.IBufferCache;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.ICacheMemoryAllocator;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.IPageReplacementStrategy;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.IFileMapManager;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.IFileMapProvider;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.smi.TransientFileMapManager;
+
+public class RuntimeContext {
+    private IndexRegistry<IIndex> indexRegistry;
+    private IBufferCache bufferCache;
+    private IFileMapManager fileMapManager;
+
+    public RuntimeContext(INCApplicationContext appCtx) {
+        fileMapManager = new TransientFileMapManager();
+        ICacheMemoryAllocator allocator = new HeapBufferAllocator();
+        IPageReplacementStrategy prs = new ClockPageReplacementStrategy();
+        bufferCache = new BufferCache(appCtx.getRootContext().getIOManager(), allocator, prs, fileMapManager, 32768, 50, 100);
+        indexRegistry = new IndexRegistry<IIndex>();
+    }
+
+    public void close() {
+        bufferCache.close();
+    }
+
+    public IBufferCache getBufferCache() {
+        return bufferCache;
+    }
+
+    public IFileMapProvider getFileMapManager() {
+        return fileMapManager;
+    }
+
+    public IndexRegistry<IIndex> getIndexRegistry() {
+        return indexRegistry;
+    }
+    
+    public static RuntimeContext get(IHyracksTaskContext ctx) {
+        return (RuntimeContext) ctx.getJobletContext().getApplicationContext().getApplicationObject();
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/helper/StorageManagerInterface.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/helper/StorageManagerInterface.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c6363b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/helper/StorageManagerInterface.java
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ * 
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.examples.btree.helper;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.context.IHyracksTaskContext;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.IStorageManagerInterface;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.IBufferCache;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.IFileMapProvider;
+
+public class StorageManagerInterface implements IStorageManagerInterface {
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+    public static final StorageManagerInterface INSTANCE = new StorageManagerInterface();
+
+    private StorageManagerInterface() {
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public IBufferCache getBufferCache(IHyracksTaskContext ctx) {
+        return RuntimeContext.get(ctx).getBufferCache();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public IFileMapProvider getFileMapProvider(IHyracksTaskContext ctx) {
+        return RuntimeContext.get(ctx).getFileMapManager();
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/resources/hyracks-deployment.properties b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/resources/hyracks-deployment.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab0ecb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreehelper/src/main/resources/hyracks-deployment.properties
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+nc.bootstrap.class=edu.uci.ics.hyracks.examples.btree.helper.NCBootstrap
\ No newline at end of file